July 30, 1990 - Harmony Corruption

Two years since their last album "From Enslavement To Obliteration" and just under a year since the EP "Mentally Murdered", Napalm Death released their third album "Harmony Corruption" on July 30, 1990. With the change of the decade comes a lot of personnel changes as lead singer Lee Dorrian and guitarist Bill Steer have left the band. Napalm Death becomes a five-piece for the first time as Mark "Barney" Greenway becomes the new lead vocalist and there are now two guitarists: Mitch Harris and Jesse Pintado. Napalm Death continue to build off their last EP with a mix of grindcore and slower heavy metal, but how will all these changes affect their style? Let's find out!

The album kicks off with "Vision Conquest" and the music on this one is still very typical with some super fast guitars, bass and of course some crazy fast drums from Mick Harris. Greenway is definitely a different singer than we're used to as he yells in a low voice that is alright but it's a little monotone and I find it way less exciting than Dorrian's vocals. There are no high screams either leaving the vocals felling just a little flat. Harris and Pintado both seem like good guitarists that can play at Napalm Death speeds and while I may not like Greenway as much as Dorrian, it was still a pretty solid way to open the album. Up next is "If The Truth Be Known" and we get our first taste of a more standard heavy metal riff as the pace is much slower than usual, but it's a pretty cool chugging riff leading the way. After about 1:15 of cool instrumental stuff they snap into a more typical riff with everyone playing their guts out and Greenway yelling decently overtop. After a couple minutes of furious headbanging they slow things down for the final minute and Greenway holds a couple nice long yells in this part, and they even end the song with a guitar solo! A pretty sweet way to wrap things up! Track 3 is "Inner Incineration" and it's the first time Harris and Pintado really separate as one plays a chugging, slower riff while the other plays some super distorted stuff in the background as they start this one off. Mick still plays some great super fast drums and once Greenway comes in to yell the verse things sound pretty solid. Shane Embury shows off with some cool bass breaks in between the headbanging main riff but Greenway's vocals are nothing too amazing once again; they aren't bad, but they are certainly average. The final minute is another slower, groovier riff that sounds pretty good, but it drags a bit by the end. Not their best effort. The next song is "Malicious Intent" and they jump right into a cool Slayer-esque riff with one guitarist just shredding it while the other provides some heavy, rhythm backup, and the shredding sounds awesome! Greenway's faster yelling sounds better I think on this one and after a couple typical minutes they take a more standard metal turn and shift to a simpler new riff. It's still good, and it leads to another cool guitar solo and then they nicely jam it out a little longer before cranking the pace way back up for a typical race to the finish. This one was pretty solid and nicely put together! Track 5 is the first of two five-plus minute songs on this album (which is just unimaginable for these grindcore freaks!) and it's called "Unfit Earth". It's driven by a slower, simpler main riff and it's interesting to jeer these guys play more like Metallica and less like Slayer with this much simpler but still plenty heavy riff. After a minute and a half they shift to more typical speeds with some super fast stuff and Greenway sounds pretty solid yelling lowly overtop this part. From here (where the song might normally end) they nicely break it down to a new super slow riff with a simple but catchy lead guitar riff. Of course they ramp it up for the finish and then end with an actual explosion! Very metal indeed! Up next is "Circle Of Hypocrisy" and it's got a decently fast and solidly catchy lead guitar riff along with some pretty cool drums by Mick. Greenway doesn't join in until over a minute and he sounds decent, but the music sounds great! Eventually they slam into a more typical lightning fast style and Greenway sounds much better in this style I find, and the song ends with another pretty wicked guitar solo! I do like that those have increased! Track 7 is "The Chains That Bind Us" and they dive right into some lightning fast, neckbreaking stuff that sounds pretty solid and eventually Greenway sings in his super low voice overtop but not adding all that much. The music is solid and after almost two minutes they slow things down and shift to a new riff. Greenway's vocals sound much better in this slower part I find and it's a nice shake-up before they return to the lightning fast guitars to close it out. This was largely a good song, but Greenway's vocals were definitely the low point. The next track is "Mind Snare" and it's got a nice mix of standard metal and typical grindcore styles with main riff that is still plenty fast, but also has a bit of groove and sounds pretty cool. Greenway's vocals sound much clearer than normal and that's definitely a good thing! Mick's drums are absolutely insane as usual and once again they do a good job of shaking things up with a brief switch to a slower but still heavy and solid riff. Once they return to the main drag things can sound a little repetitive as they race to the finish, but it was still a pretty good tune. Track 9 is "Extremity Retained" and at two minutes it's much more like what we're used to for Napalm Death as they jump right into another furious main riff.  There's no let-up on this short song as the guitars are playing several notes every second and it's a nonstop headbanger for sure, pretty solid! Up next is the album's only single "Suffer The Children" and it's got a cool stop-and-start main riff that is not their typical lightning speeds but it sounds good and still plenty heavy. Greenway sounds alright on this one with his low yelling and it's definitely radio-friendly for these guys, I can see why it was the single. They do briefly speed things up to typical levels, then they REALLY slow it down for the final minute with a riff that is pretty simple and falls just a little flat. I can see what they were going for, but they didn't execute very well at the end. The final song on the album is another five-plus minute track called "Hiding Behind" and after a slow but epic opening they move into a pretty cool main riff with Mitch Harris and Pintado syncing up as usual for a loud and fast guitar riff but this one's got a groovy rhythm section from Embury and Mick Harris which makes for a pretty cool main riff, even with Greenway's low yells all sounding pretty similar. The chorus is typical(ly lightning fast and cool) and Greenway sounds way better here, golding some nice long yells and sounding way clearer. This oddly doesn't feel like a five-minute song as it's all very smooth and entertaining the whole way through, a pretty solid way to wrap things up.

That is the end of "Harmony Corruption" and I thought it was a good but not great album by Napalm Death. The two new guitarists seem perfectly capable of playing the grindcore style and I love the solos that they added! Overall the music was solid, but Mark "Barney" Greenway is a decent singer, but not a great one at the moment. I liked Lee Dorrian better, and it should be no surprise that I don't think it's better than their previous album "From Enslavement To Obliteration". But this new line-up is just getting started!